Part of his strategy was the cold plunge aspect that they rave about. 

ROI would all depend on how good of deal you find and your investment strategy.

The strategy to get there is to use my own capital towards fix and flips to create more cash on hand to eventually begin buying and holding real estate to not only build net worth, but leverage debt to continue investing, and have others pay down my liabilities as I build equity.

The engine of things and then develop your strategies yourself.People always tell me, they have no time to learn this. 

@Shiloh Lundahl I have come across a few different instances where I have seen an investor utilize lease options in their strategy.

House hacking a 2-4 unit property is a great way to get started in real estate investing and a useful strategy for building your portfolio.If you're looking to do larger apartment deals, check out Michael Blank's book "Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing".

I'm hoping to learn a bit about your strategy and how this is going for you.

I am considering two strategies. 

Your strategy of accumulating properties, even while preferring to rent personally, is an interesting one and definitely has its merits depending on your long-term goals and market conditions.Regarding your question about down payments, it's true that the landscape of real estate investing has evolved, and strategies that were prevalent a few years ago might not be as beneficial today.

If the deals have enough fat in them, then I think that this could be a solid strategy, and I would then manage the property for my friend going forward, so that he just receives passive income.